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Post by David J on Sept 10, 2019 6:12:43 GMT
Not a lot of fun in the raised back benches of the swan galleries either. The way they are designed means the front edge can dig into your hamstrings. Better if you’re up in the upper gallery where you’ll just be leaning forward anyway to see the whole stage. Not so much in the first gallery to my mums detriment recently, who had to stand up before the interval from terrible cramp I still remember sitting in the splash zone for David Farr’s Twelfth Night I'm the opposite. The upper gallety back benches are great. I always go for Gallery 2 row b dead centre on an aisle seat. I can sit or stretch my legs and stand Exactly
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Post by David J on Sept 9, 2019 21:06:21 GMT
Never sit in the front row anywhere from choice. At the main RSC it is in my opinion the worst place in the theatre. Not much better in the Swan. You are cramped into a narrow space and have to look at the actors' shoes most of the time. Not a lot of fun in the raised back benches of the swan galleries either. The way they are designed means the front edge can dig into your hamstrings. Better if you’re up in the upper gallery where you’ll just be leaning forward anyway to see the whole stage. Not so much in the first gallery to my mums detriment recently, who had to stand up before the interval from terrible cramp I still remember sitting in the splash zone for David Farr’s Twelfth Night
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Post by David J on Sept 3, 2019 21:23:29 GMT
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Post by David J on Sept 3, 2019 21:04:24 GMT
Leaving aside those directed by Doran, which have been the best Shakespeare productions in this complete works cycle ? It’s hard to think of any that have risen above the mediocre. Of course most of Doran’s didn’t either. A very disappointing spell as AD. Meanwhile look at the Almeida which has thrived under Rupert Goold who lost out to Doran in opaque circumstances for the RSC AD job. i would say the Iqbal Khan Othello with Hugh Quarshie and Lucian Msamati, and the Simon Godwin Hamlet with Paapa Essiedu. I'd also count Love's Labours Lost and Much Ado About Nothing. Troilus and Crossida was also a rare moment when Doran gave a sh*t. Meanwhile in the Swan Theatre we had some brilliant productions of The Jew of Malta, The Rover, Snow in Midsummer and some good productions of The Roaring Girl, Arden of Faversham, Volpone, Don Quixote, The Alchemist, Vice Versa, Dido Queen of Carthage, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, Timon of Athens, Tamburlaine, Tartuffe, The Provoked Wife. The Swan productions are the only ones I go up to Stratford for these days. It feels like Doran left the theatre to let directors stretch their muscles and put some creativity and effort in their productions. Even the average and bad productions felt more lively than most of the shows in the main theatre. Watching the productions it was clear how much the casts were having a good time And its also where most veteran or previous RSC actors and directors work nowadays. What did we get this year? Jonathan Slinger, Alexandria Gilbreath, Caroline Quentin, Jodie McNee, Phillip Breen, Rufus Hound, John Hodgkinson. Not that there weren't some noteworthy performances in the main theatre, Lucy Phelps and Sandy Grierson in particular. Going to the Swan Theatre feels like an event in itself and I hope that continues By the way I was reminded that this year is the 250th anniversary of David Garrick's Shakespeare Jubilee. Apart from the two Swan productions of plays he took part in, that fact seems to have gone by with little fanfare.
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Post by David J on Aug 31, 2019 23:39:06 GMT
Anything that started elsewhere but premieres here I consider new. Same for how the oliviers awards give musicals and plays like come from away the best new award I mean you’ve got to give some leeway to some of the finest new work of the decade that we brits haven’t have the privilege of seeing until now The only rule I personally apply is if a piece is over 10 years old when it finally arrives here, it’s not new. And 10 years is stretching it. So I am consider say Falsettos at the other palace a revival
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Post by David J on Aug 31, 2019 21:51:16 GMT
Really enjoyed this. The racism angle was not forced but left to hang over this well written dysfunctional family drama with top notch performances
A few drawbacks. Franks big reveal was hinted at so I saw it coming, but I agree it was a bigger issue that didn’t fit in with the play. Also Ive seen the whole “character does something he thinks will heal everybody but unknowingly screws them” plot thread enough that i saw it telegraphed. It almost turned too comical as I listened to Franks long speech in the second act wanting him to get to the big kicker already. All that was missing was a “wa wa waaaa” when it came
Oh and the ending snapshots didn’t add much for me. Thought Jaimi Barbakoff and Steven Mackintosh’s moment in the last scene was an appropriate moment rather than further supernatursl stuff
Otherwise another great new play. Hope the Donmar keeps up the good work
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Post by David J on Aug 31, 2019 16:41:57 GMT
Does anyone think TodayTix might be doing rush for this? Not sure whether to wait or try and grab a deal I’d doubt it. I was front row, which was £29.50. Said potential restricted view. But it wasn’t in anyway so I’d say that’s a good place to go 🤷🏻♂️ How’s the leg room for someone over 6 foot
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Post by David J on Aug 24, 2019 6:16:55 GMT
Here tonight and they now have these round pictures up in the foyer of all Shakespeares plays, with the ones they’ve done filled with a production photo (except AYLI, MM and TS oddly). The rest are greyed out Pericles is up there so its clear they're going to do it. So not only are they giving up on doing all the plays in the main theatre they're not sticking to the First Folio either. Anyway I'd love to see another Pericles. All three parts of Henry VI are there too so hopefully that means they're not doing a reduced version ALA the Sam Wanamaker production. They just need to get a visionary director to do it. Maybe they are but it isnt in the folio so still think its an error. Re the Henries i wouldn't read too much into the pendants, the plays are listed as published. We'll know soon enough when they announce the 2020 season next month. Well, given how inconsistent Gregory Doran has been it could go either way We can at least have Pericles in the swan
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Post by David J on Aug 23, 2019 23:02:59 GMT
Saw this tonight
We had an incident in the audience where someone fainted during the second act, and it sounded like they were in the tiered bench seats in the upper gallery because we all heard the loud thud. Managed professionally by the staff and the show got back on tracks in a short amount of time whilst the person was attended to.
Finished 3 hours and 20 minutes because of that but I could swear this felt like 3 hours and 05-10 minutes (as I said it didn't take long for the show to start again)
As a wise man once wrote, "brevity is the soul of wit"
John Vanbrugh certainly knows how to write repartee between the sexes as the audience kept oohing at the insults thrown back and forth, whilst laughing at the characters praise and criticise theirs and the other sex. But it feels like this battle of the sexes wit takes up a good third to half of each scene. Each scene felt long and plot threads and characters felt unnecessary. From the whole Sir Brute dressing up and encountering the police screnario to the musican that came on a few times to play some songs.
In fact in all the time I've been watching Swan productions, this is the first time I felt the songs added little to proceedings. The first one that stroked Lady Fancyfull's ego was fine but that was all the rest were there for.
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Post by David J on Aug 23, 2019 22:37:45 GMT
Dorans got Errors, Alls well, Pericles, Winters Tale, Henry VI and Richard III left to do Pericles, Winters Tale, and Errors seem like an apt group for a ‘lost fa milies in far off lands’ season Obvioulsy were going to have a summer/winter devoted to Henry VI. Assuming that’s in 2022 and Richard III ends the tenure in 2023 that leaves four plays to fill up two years Pericles isnt in the Folio. So there's the second tetralogy plus the four others, i reckon it finishes summer 2021. Here tonight and they now have these round pictures up in the foyer of all Shakespeares plays, with the ones they’ve done filled with a production photo (except AYLI, MM and TS oddly). The rest are greyed out Pericles is up there so its clear they're going to do it. So not only are they giving up on doing all the plays in the main theatre they're not sticking to the First Folio either. Anyway I'd love to see another Pericles. All three parts of Henry VI are there too so hopefully that means they're not doing a reduced version ALA the Sam Wanamaker production. They just need to get a visionary director to do it.
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Post by David J on Aug 23, 2019 22:30:20 GMT
Oh, and one thing I noticed - the programmes no longer have a list of all the plays, with the ones they've done greyed out. Interesting. Here tonight and they now have these round pictures up in the foyer of all Shakespeares plays, with the ones they’ve done filled with a production photo (except AYLI, MM and TS oddly). The rest are greyed out
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Post by David J on Aug 22, 2019 16:08:45 GMT
Someone at work who really knows nothing about musical theatre said to me today "I wish they would bring Starlight Express back". I'm sure it do really well especially with people in their 40s and 50s who saw it when they were young and want a bit of nostalga. Footnote; auto correct changed nostalga to "bossanova" Well I always thought if Starlight Express were to come back it needed to be played with Brazilian jazz style music I'm sure some other musicals whose other musical styles need to be updated. A little night rap music Phantom of the pop opera The hills are alive with the sound of rock music
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Post by David J on Aug 22, 2019 11:44:54 GMT
I have an issue with what I call "issue plays" that come out these days. Plays where perhaps watching the first 10 minutes its as if the playwright is telling me "my play is about racism/sexism/current politics" or whatever is trending. It's less about characters and more about having them stop to perhaps have a rant about what they believe. It's more about pigeon-holing a story around this one issue.
I've seen some Chekhov and Ibsen plays in recent years, and I keep feeling there's something about their writing that springs out to me. Something I wish there was more of these days. Sure their plays can be political or have some issue around them, but they're brought up more subtly. It's more about the individual characters and their stories during which you're piecing together what they're about, rather than them saying outright to us I'm this or that and I think so and so.
Downstate springs to mind. Yes the blurb makes it clear its about paedophiles but I was taken aback by how the issue was left on the back burner and let the characters and story flourish. The same for Sweat which felt better written than Europe. It's why these two plays will be high on my best of 2019 list
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Post by David J on Aug 21, 2019 12:58:22 GMT
He says Trunchball is the only role he wishes he had played and he would be awesome.
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Post by David J on Aug 20, 2019 11:31:08 GMT
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Post by David J on Aug 16, 2019 12:45:14 GMT
Just to tease your brains
Does anybody know of any
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Post by David J on Aug 11, 2019 10:13:23 GMT
I think it’s extremely unreasonable. If a piece of theatre relies on your previous knowledge then it isn’t doing its job properly and is excluding people - something which theatre gets accused of a lot anyway. Every piece of theatre should be aimed at the one person who has never seen the show before (be it Shakespeare or Sondheim); not the uber-fans who know every line. If things are not clear, then they haven’t done their job properly. While that may be true for most things, there really isn't much of an excuse for not knowing at least the most basic facts about a famous historical figure and the context. I'm not talking about details (the show should provide those), but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people either to know who Eva Peron was or to spend 30 seconds looking it up beforehand if they don't. If she was a famous historical figure over here we’d be learning about her in school. And I agree if you as a director expects your audience to read up on the subject before seeing your production then you’re not doing your job right
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Post by David J on Aug 11, 2019 10:05:53 GMT
I couldn’t tell you whether or not the harp death theme has been restored, but this production certainly worked for me. This is Evita for 2019, reimagined. Fresh, modern, exciting, and visually totally different to the Evita we are used to - but with reference to the ‘real’ Evita in the final seconds, which brought everything together beautifully. Jamie Lloyd has decided on his concept and stuck to it. To say that the piece lacks historical specificity is, I feel, missing the point. If you’re expecting a history lesson of the era, this probably isn’t the production for you. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a certain level of prior knowledge - especially for such a well-known musical. The Adelphi revival left me fairly cold. I’m sure that was partly because the night I saw it, Elena Roger’s alternate was on - and (although she was excellent) in a production which was selling itself on having an Argentinian Eva, that wasn’t ideal. But also because I found it a very literal production, which - Latin orchestrations aside - did little for me. Though I know many people disagree! One thing I would say is that whilst her voice was good, I didn’t find Samantha Pauly the strongest singer - a bit lacking in control at times, and with the potential to border on shrill. I did wonder whether Marsha Songcombe will sing the part better. But these slight vocal concerns were a small price to pay for Samantha’s portrayal of a ruthless, self-assured, determined Evita who will do whatever it takes to get where she wants to be. The production is certainly bold and I can see why it would be polarising - but a definite thumbs up from me. To be clear I too found the production a refreshing detour from the historical focussed film and BK productions I have seen. It’s just the little inconsistencies and lines that now didn’t make sense piled up to indicate that Jamie Lloyd was more interested in his stylistic choices than whether each one of them made sense. Something I have had a problem with in his previous productions And like others have said, I wonder whether newcomers will be able to understand what’s going on from a narrative stand point.
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Post by David J on Aug 10, 2019 23:45:28 GMT
Any knowledge on the understudies? I'm surprised to not see Earl Carpenter as u/s Javert, but other than that it's pretty much what I expected. When he was in the 2016 Manilla production he said somewhere that it was the last time he was playing Javert. Disappointing but there is a press video of One day more and a recording of the confrontation on youtube from that production and you can tell he was loosing his Javert voice. And that was not long after he was in in the Canadian and broadway productions so I wouldn’t be surprised that he wanted to move on
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Post by David J on Aug 10, 2019 23:10:22 GMT
Sorry, Trent Saunders. Took the wrong name from Scarpias post
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Post by David J on Aug 10, 2019 22:07:28 GMT
Okay I was enthralled by the energy of the first act but during the second act i remembered how much of a style-over-substance director Jamie Lloyd is
Scarpia sums up the things that nagged at me. The production kind of lost me when Che was stripped and the montage after Eva’s death. I vaguely remember the ending in the Kenwright tour but still it was moments like these that needed clarity
I think the narrative Lloyd was going for was Eva and Che one-upping each other. They certainly spent a lot of the time onstage giving each other knowing glances. Che trying to show her that she did nothing for Argentina and Eva showing how she had everything and was adored. Eva struts around basking in her brief glory whilst Che cynically looks on
Don’t Cry for me Argentina, for me, felt flat. Nicely sung and when you get to see Eva in her dress and wig at the end the point is made. But the costume did nothing for me and sitting at the front I wished she didn’t have the microphone so I could see her face putting on the image of Argentina’s saint
I did enjoy the performances. Samantha Paula is quite the power house and Mandy Patinkin was superb as Che. And watching the big ensemble numbers was a joy
In a lot of respects a step up from the BK production. It just needed more context and clarity and it could be an awesome production
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Post by David J on Aug 7, 2019 16:07:49 GMT
Gwendoline Christie is the only actress that comes to mind who has some of the physical attributes to play the character
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Post by David J on Aug 7, 2019 12:58:53 GMT
It's all very well saying we must cast the correct gender for the role, but you need to find someone suitable for the role.
I should think there are women out there who have the physical looks of Miss Trunchball, but how many of them are musical actresses?
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Post by David J on Jul 19, 2019 12:14:01 GMT
Ah good, my favourite Brutus in Julius Caesar. Good enough reason to see this for the fourth time
Prices have gone up though so I'm going to wait for offers. There were plenty of tickets available in January during the last run
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Post by David J on Jul 19, 2019 6:45:42 GMT
This reaction video cracks me up -
Also the trailer on movieclips trailers channel has 22 thousand downvotes to 11 thousand upvotes
Will it make bucket loads of money? Sure. Will it make a profit? Eh...
I said this once and I’ll say it again, they should have done an animated film. In fact there were plans to do so. Appaently there’s character designs out there
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